Territorio prohibido

Upon looking at the cover of the DVD case, I was quite skeptical about how good this movie really is. It seemed like it would be sub-par because of the fact that Blockbuster sponsored its release to DVD. Also, the fact that Crossing Over is a lame and cliché title for a immigration movie added more reasons to my skepticism.

Anyways, I popped the DVD in. Harrison Ford playing his usual role, a law enforcement/cop/detective actually gave a good performance. I am a big fan of the character of Amid in this film. His emotions were real and his performance during the hold-up scene in the Korean Convenience store was suspenseful and emotional.

I felt some connections to Crash; with all the interconnectedness between the characters. Despite the cool and intriguing effect of the relationships between the characters, it still wasn't amazing as Crash's.

If I had to pick a scene, no doubt would I choose the Koreantown convenient store scene. One of the best I have seen.

I am shocked that this movie was on limited release. If you want to explore a new topic in illegal immigration, with good performances and recognizable actors then this movie is definitely worth the rent. The overall message of this movie is pro-immigration, but it is an interesting and emotional ride to catch a glimpse of the hard and sacrificial life of an immigrant.

Unlike Crash, another recent disparate-people-dealing-with-a-sociological-issue movie, Crossing Over is poignant, stirring, and rousing, capturing what must be the wrenching experience of being an immigrant, legal or otherwise, in the United States. Led by Harrison Ford, the ensemble cast touches all the bases. Although the movie can be very difficult to watch at times, owing to its subject matter, it's a tough-minded look at the often-tragic issue of immigration.

Ford plays Max Brogan, an INS agent stationed in Los Angeles, who decides to help an illegal textile worker (Alice Braga) by making sure that the woman's son is taken to his grandmother (the woman's mother) in Mexico when the woman is detained. Meanwhile, Max's partner Hamid Baraheri (Cliff Curtis), struggles to reconcile his job with the culture of his family (Iranian) and the reckless behavior of his younger sister. Ray Liotta plays Cole Frankel, an adjudicator who determines the status of immigrants and their green cards; Alice Eve is an aspiring Australian actress who has to degrade herself to lengthen her stay in the country; Ashley Judd plays Liotta's wife, who defends immigrants in status cases. In a parallel storyline, a young Korean youth, days before his family's naturalization ceremony, makes a decision that could have terrible consequences.

All of these story lines are intricately intertwined, but here's where the movie differs from Crash: the interactions of the various characters never feel forced or insincere, and the characters themselves are not simple good people doing bad things or bad people doing good things.

The acting is uniformly grand. Ford, who rarely plays nonhero roles let alone supporting roles, is excellent as the crusty, world-weary agent, trying desperately to solve a serious crime that may hit close to home while also doing the right thing by the young textile-worker mother. Also shining is Judd (and, to a lesser extent, Liotta, although he plays the same character in many of his movies now - a slimeball), but really sealing the deal is Curtis (10,000 BC, Sunshine) as the conflicted agent of Iranian descent.

Like the issue of immigration itself, the movie is complicated, almost detrimentally so, but the conflict should certainly resonate with its audience, even if one is not an immigrant or part of a family that has recently immigrated. Certain scenes are almost deadly with their pathos, figuratively rending your heart as they play out. Emotionally gripping scenes such as these (particularly near the end of the film) exemplify precisely the kind of psychological gymnastics that a director must undertake for a film like this to have any sort of positive effect on its audience. That is, the entire issue of immigration is fraught with anger, deceit, terror, and sadness, and it can be tricky to walk the line between one feeling or another, lest one be accused of bias.

Crossing Over falls into none of the traps that Crash fell into. Its character-driven storyline is brimming with plausible conflict that eclipses the usual cops-and-illegals pastiche, choosing instead to deal with problems on a more individual level. The result is an honest, illuminating look at a sometimes-vexing subject, although it is clearly not for all tastes.

Wayne Kramer wrote, produced (along with Frank Marshall) and directed "Crossing Over," an ensemble drama about illegal immigration in Los Angeles. The film boasts a very good cast , such as Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Jim Sturgess, Ashley Judd, Cliff Curtis, Alice Eve and Alice Braga. "Crossing Over" was released by The Weinstein Company : Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein as executive producers in 2009. It is a thoughtful and thought-provoking movie with engaging and thorny themes . The film deals with document fraud at the border, the process of seeking political asylum in obtaining the Green Card, the anti-terrorism office and the clash of cultures. Crossing Over is about illegal aliens of many nationalities in the Los Angeles area , concerning a canvas with different roles of various nationalities in Los Angeles struggling to get the necessary documents to stay in the United States and the authorities and individuals dealing with them . Cole Frankel (Ray Liotta) , a corrupt immigration officer, makes a deal with Australian immigrant Claire Shepard (Alice Eva who's in love for Jim Sturgess playing a Jewish though atheist role) : he can have unlimited sex to get the legal documents. Meantime, his wife Denise Frankel (Ashley Judd) attempts to adopt a little girl from Nigeria . While a South Korean teenager Yong Kim, who is about to be naturalized, participates in a robbery . Law enforcer Max Brogan (Harrison Ford) interested in a hapless Mexican (Sonia Braga) takes care of her little son. Brogan has an Iranian colleague, Hamid Baraheri (Cliff Curtis) and Hamid's family disapproves of his sister having sex with a married man. A 15-year-old girl from Bangladesh, presents a paper at school promoting that people should try to understand the 9/11 hijackers.

¨Crossing Over¨ dealing with various unfortunate immigrants struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles . The film regards various interesting roles set in the border , document fraud , the asylum and green card process , work-site enforcement , naturalization, the office of counter terrorism and the clash of cultures. Being well and realistically paced by Wayne Kramer by using different stories that are eventually interwoven , utilizing complex narration, steadicam and crane shots .¨Crossing Over¨results to be one of the very few pictures containing attractive portrayals of both legal and illegal immigrants in the United States.

It displays an evocative and moving musical score by Mark Isham . As well as atmospheric cinematography by James Whitaker , shot on location in Los Angeles , Santa Clarita , California . The motion picture was compellingly made by director Wayne Kramer . However , the original cut was 135 minutes long, but despite having the right to final cut , film's producer Harvey Weinstein supposedly threatened him to edit the film down to two hours . Wayne Kramer is a fine filmmaker who immigrated to the United States in 1986 , he often provides heavy emphasis on sexuality and violence and unusual transition shots. Kramer has written and directed decent movies that have won several prizes and nominations , in fact he was nominated for a 2004 Golden Satellite Award and a 2004 Edgar Allan Poe for his screenplay to ¨The Cooler¨, which also received a 2003 Special Mention For Excellence in Filmmaking from the National Board of Review . Wayne followed up "The Cooler" with "Running Scared," a gritty action thriller for New Line Cinema starred by Paul Walker , Vera Farmiga, Chazz Palminteri and Elizabeth Mitchell. "Running Scared" was released in 2006 and has since become a cult favorite among action fans. Most recently, Wayne directed the black comedy ensemble "Pawn Shop Chronicles ,"the film stars Paul Walker, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser. Wayne will next direct the dystopian sci-fi love story "Ecstasia," based on his upcoming novel, with Scott Eastwood attached to star . Kramer's other credits include the original screenplay for "Mindhunters" (2004), directed by Renny Harlin and released by Dimension Films, among others . Rating ¨Crossing over¨ 7.5/10 . Better than average , well worth watching.

It's really surprising (for me) to read, that Kramers (director/writer) previous efforts as a writer, were Mindhunters and Running Scared (which he also directed). Both movies, that are more in the action genre and wouldn't really leave with the feeling that the guy who made those movies, could/would be able to make a drama, that can be compared to Traffic and Crash.

Even if you don't feel it lives up to those two (which I feel too), it's still a pretty good movie. You have great actors and there is no holding back any punches. At times it gets really political (and how couldn't it go that way), although sometimes you'd wish even more involvement or that he would shed more light into some segments ... but then again, the movie might have felt too long if he did.

As it is, this is a rock solid drama, about migration (immigration) and many other things in the US.

This ensemble multi-ethnic cast turns in solid performances in this formulaic treatment of the everyday dramas faced by the hard working folks at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Mexican, Chinese, Palestinian, Australian and Persian plots carom off each other like Olympic Billiards as Harrison Ford, (whose obviously impending retirement is thankfully never mentioned), his heart bleeding from frame one to the credits, leads a solitary existence in an apartment at what has to be the Alimony Arms Hotel. There is no attempt to patch over the Crash/Babel formula; the film embraces it and comes up with some fine set pieces like a gripping intervention (Cliff Curtis and Justin Chon) during a convenience store robbery/shootout. The aerial views of L.A. will make natives want to freeze-frame future DVDs to ID where we are. The climax (NO SPOILER) is played against an attenuated rendering of the National Anthem and packs a punch. Unfortunately, there has to be another five minutes of Tying Up Loose Ends. Does it sound like I didn't like this much? On the contrary, it was 113 minutes well spent and shouldn't have been relegated to the Purgatory of February. April, maybe?